Expedition 71

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Expedition 71
ISS071-E-171061 (Cropped).jpg
Expedition 71 crew
Mission type Long-duration expedition
Operator NASA / Roscosmos
Mission duration170 days, 1 hour and 21 minutes
Expedition
Space stationInternational Space Station
Began6 April 2024
Ended23 September 2024
Arrived aboard
Departed aboard Soyuz MS-25
Crew
Crew size7–12
Members
EVAs 2
EVA duration5 hours and 7 minutes
ISS Expedition 71 Patch.png
Expedition 71 mission patch
The official Expedition 71 crew portrait with CFT crew.jpg
From left: Grebenkin, Caldwell-Dyson, Barratt, Chub, Dominick, Kononenko, and Epps with Williams (top left) and Wilmore (top right)

Expedition 71 was the 71st long-duration expedition to the International Space Station. The expedition began with the departure of Soyuz MS-24 on 6 April 2024 [1] with Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko continuing his ISS command from Expedition 70. [2] [3] It ended with his departure on Soyuz MS-25 with crewmates from MS-24 and MS-25 on 23 September 2024. [4] [5]

Contents

Background, Crew, and Events

Initially, the expedition consisted of Kononenko, his Russian Soyuz MS-24 crewmate Nikolai Chub (both on a year long ISS mission since 15 September 2023), and his American Soyuz MS-25 crewmate, Tracy Caldwell-Dyson, who launched on 23 March 2024, as well as SpaceX Crew-8 crewmates, American astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, and Jeanette Epps, and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin, who launched on 4 March 2024 and were transferred from Expedition 70 after Soyuz MS-24 departure. [5] [3] [6]

NASA astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams arrived at the station on 6 June 2024 as part of the Boeing Crew Flight Test. Their visit was planned to be brief. [4] [7] [8] However, due to technical issues with their spacecraft, their stay was extended, and they became de facto members of the ISS crew. They assisted with various tasks, including research, housekeeping, and maintenance. [9] On 24 August 2024, NASA announced that the Boeing Starliner spacecraft would return to Earth uncrewed, [10] with Wilmore and Williams being formally added to the Expedition 71/72 crew and returning aboard SpaceX Crew-9 on 18 March 2025.

On 11 September 2024, Soyuz MS-26 arrived at the station, transporting Roscosmos cosmonauts Aleksey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, as well as NASA astronaut Donald Pettit.

Events manifest

Events involving crewed spacecraft are listed in bold.

Previous mission: Expedition 70

6 April 2024 – Soyuz MS-24 undocking (includes Visiting Expedition 21), official switch from Expedition 70

25 April 2024 – EVA-1 (VKD-62) Kononenko/Chub: 4 hrs, 36 mins

28 April 2024 – CRS SpX-30 undocking

2 May 2024 – SpaceX Crew-8 redocking

28 May 2024 – Progress MS-25/86P undocking

1 June 2024 – Progress MS-27/88P docking

6 June 2024 – Boeing Crew Flight Test docking [8]

24 June 2024 – EVA-2 (US-90) Dyson/Barratt: 31 mins

12 July 2024 – CRS NG-20 unberthing and release

6 August 2024 – CRS NG-21 capture and berthing

13 August 2024 – Progress MS-26/87P undocking

17 August 2024 – Progress MS-28/89P docking

4 September 2024 – Wilmore and Williams' seat liner moved from Boeing CFT swapped to SpaceX Crew-8 for CFT uncrewed landing [11]

6 September 2024 – Boeing Crew Flight Test uncrewed undocking [8]

11 September 2024 – Soyuz MS-26 docking

22 September 2024 – ISS Expedition 71/72 change of command ceremony from Oleg Kononenko to Sunita Williams

23 September 2024 – Soyuz MS-25 undocking, official switch to Expedition 72

Next: Expedition 72

Sources: [12] [4] [13] [3] [5]

Crew

Flight [4] AstronautIncrement 71aIncrement 71bIncrement 71c
6 Apr – 6 Jun 20246 Jun – 11 Sep 202411 – 23 Sep 2024
Soyuz MS-25 Flag of Russia.svg Oleg Kononenko, Roscosmos
Fifth spaceflight
Commander [1]
Flag of Russia.svg Nikolai Chub, Roscosmos
First spaceflight
Flight engineer
Flag of the United States.svg Tracy Caldwell-Dyson, NASA
Third spaceflight
Flight engineer
SpaceX Crew-8 Flag of the United States.svg Matthew Dominick, NASA
First spaceflight
Flight engineer
Flag of the United States.svg Michael Barratt, NASA
Third spaceflight
Flight engineer
Flag of the United States.svg Jeanette Epps, NASA
Only spaceflight
Flight engineer
Flag of Russia.svg Alexander Grebenkin, Roscosmos
First spaceflight
Flight engineer
Boeing Crew Flight Test Flag of the United States.svg Barry E. Wilmore, NASA
Third and last spaceflight
Off stationFlight engineer
Flag of the United States.svg Sunita Williams, NASA
Third spaceflight
Off stationFlight engineer
Soyuz MS-26 Flag of Russia.svg Aleksey Ovchinin, Roscosmos
Third [a] spaceflight
Off stationFlight engineer
Flag of Russia.svg Ivan Vagner, Roscosmos
Second spaceflight
Off stationFlight engineer
Flag of the United States.svg Donald Pettit, NASA
Fourth spaceflight
Off stationFlight engineer

Crewed test flight

MissionAstronautsDocking (UTC)Undocking (UTC)Duration
Boeing Crew Flight Test Flag of the United States.svg Barry Wilmore, NASA
Flag of the United States.svg Sunita Williams, NASA
6 June 2024, 17:34 [8] 6 September 2024, 22:04 (uncrewed) [8] 93 days
Besides the expedition crew, a Boeing Starliner spacecraft visited the station for a crewed flight test, consisting of NASA astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams. [8] The spacecraft Calypso [14] launched and docked to the station in June 2024. The flight marked the first crewed test flight of the Starliner. Crew members were scheduled to stay aboard the station for approximately 6 days, but the mission was extended due to issues with the spacecraft. Despite months of testing, NASA felt it was not able to understand why the thrusters malfunctioned and decided that it was too risky to return Wilmore and Williams to Earth aboard Starliner. Instead, they rode down on the SpaceX Crew-9 Dragon capsule, and the Boeing spacecraft returned uncrewed. Until Crew-9 arrived, they along with their seat liners moved to SpaceX Crew-8, their temporary emergency evacuation spacecraft, after which they and their seat liners transferred to Crew-9. [15] It was the first launch of humans from Cape Canaveral since Apollo 7 in October 1968 and first launch of humans from SLC-41. [8]

Vehicle manifest

Vehicle [4] PurposePortDocking/capture dateUndocking date
Vehicles inherited from Expedition 70
Flag of Russia.svg Progress MS-25 Cargo Poisk zenith3 Dec 202328 May 2024
Flag of the United States.svg CRS NG-20 Cargo Unity nadir1 Feb 202412 Jul 2024
Flag of Russia.svg Progress MS-26 Cargo Zvezda aft17 Feb 202413 Aug 2024
Flag of the United States.svg SpaceX Crew-8 "Endeavour"Exp. 70/71 crew Harmony forward5 Mar 20242 May 2024 (redock)
Flag of the United States.svg CRS SpX-30 Cargo Harmony zenith23 Mar 202428 Apr 2024
Flag of Russia.svg Soyuz MS-25 "Kazbek"Exp. 70/71 crew, Visiting Expedition 21 Prichal nadir25 Mar 202423 Sep 2024
Vehicles docked during Expedition 71
Flag of the United States.svg SpaceX Crew-8 "Endeavour"Exp. 70/71/72 crew Harmony zenith2 May 2024 (redock)23 Oct 2024 (Exp. 72)
Flag of Russia.svg Progress MS-27 Cargo Poisk zenith1 Jun 202419 Nov 2024 (Exp. 72)
Flag of the United States.svg Boeing CFT "Calypso"Visiting CCDev mission Harmony forward6 Jun 20246 Sep 2024
Flag of the United States.svg CRS NG-21 Cargo Unity nadir6 Aug 202428 Mar 2025 (Exp. 72)
Flag of Russia.svg Progress MS-28 Cargo Zvezda aft17 Aug 202425 Feb 2025 (Exp. 72)
Flag of Russia.svg Soyuz MS-26 "Burlak"Exp. 71/72 crew Rassvet nadir11 Sep 202419 Apr 2025 (Exp. 72)
Segment Flag of the United States.svg US Orbital Segment Flag of Russia.svg Russian Segment
PeriodHarmony forwardHarmony zenithHarmony nadirUnity nadirRassvet nadirPrichal nadirPoisk zenithZvezda aft
6–28 Apr 2024SpaceX Crew-8CRS SpX-30VacantCRS NG-20VacantSoyuz MS-25Progress MS-25Progress MS-26
28 Apr–2 May 2024Vacant
2–28 May 2024VacantSpaceX Crew-8
28 May–1 Jun 2024Vacant
1–6 Jun 2024Progress MS-27
6 Jun–12 Jul 2024Boeing CFT
12 Jul–6 Aug 2024Vacant
6–13 Aug 2024CRS NG-21
13–17 Aug 2024Vacant
17 Aug–6 Sep 2024Progress MS-28
6–11 Sep 2024Vacant
11-23 Sep 2024Soyuz MS-26

The Prichal aft, forward, starboard, and aft ports all have yet to be used since the module originally docked to the station and are not included in the table.

Notes

  1. Not counting the aborted flight of Soyuz MS-10.

References

  1. 1 2 Evans, Ben (10 September 2023). "Better Late Than Never: New ISS Crew Prepares to Fly, All-Female EVAs Possible in October". AmericaSpace.com. Archived from the original on 29 September 2023. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  2. Harwood, William (2024-03-11). "4 International Space Station crew members undock, head for Tuesday splashdown in Gulf of Mexico – CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 2024-03-12.
  3. 1 2 3 "Expedition 71 Crew Discusses Six-Month ISS Increment, Crew-9 Announcement Expected Next Week – AmericaSpace". www.americaspace.com. 2024-01-25. Retrieved 2024-03-12.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Complete ISS flight events". NasaSpaceFlight.com Forum. 15 April 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  5. 1 2 3 "NASA Expedition 71 Astronauts to Conduct Research aboard Space Station – NASA". 2024-02-09. Retrieved 2024-03-12.
  6. "NASA's expedition 71 astronauts prepare for crucial research on international space station". India Today NE. 2024-02-11. Retrieved 2024-03-12.
  7. Sturm, Karin (20 November 2023). "Stars aligning for Boeing crew launch in April". NASASpaceFlight.com. Archived from the original on 27 December 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Boeing's 1st Starliner astronaut launch delayed again, to May 6". Space.com. 4 April 2024. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  9. Donaldson, Abbey A. (8 July 2024). "NASA, Boeing Provide Next Update on Space Station Crew Flight Test". NASA . Retrieved 2024-08-30.
  10. Taveau, Jessica (2024-08-24). "NASA Decides to Bring Starliner Spacecraft Back to Earth Without Crew". NASA . Retrieved 2024-08-24.
  11. Garcia, Mark (2024-09-04). "Crew Studies Space Effects on Humans, Prepares Spaceships for Departure". blogs.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2024-09-05.
  12. "Launch Schedule – Spaceflight Now" . Retrieved 2023-02-23.
  13. "Microgravity Research Flights". Glenn Research Center. NASA. 10 November 2020. Archived from the original on 18 July 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  14. Dunbar, Brian (December 22, 2019). "Starliner Returns to Earth With a New Name: Calypso". NASA.
  15. Garcia, Mark (2024-09-04). "Crew Studies Space Effects on Humans, Prepares Spaceships for Departure". blogs.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2024-09-05.